


RAVENS MATE FOR LIFE

by magsainsley



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: F/M, There's ;lots of not-canon-compliant stuff but the basics are there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-10
Updated: 2017-11-13
Packaged: 2019-01-15 22:51:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12330447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magsainsley/pseuds/magsainsley
Summary: Ravens (corvus corax) choose one mate, and they remain together for life. While not ravens themselves, the Burnsides of Raven's Roost were no different.





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus is a ruff boi. Julia learns Magnus-wrangling the hard way.

You have to stop just working through the pain, baby," Julia tells him, her hand resting softly on his shoulder. "You're going to hurt yourself even worse."  
Magnus turns to look at her, placing his hand on top of hers, running his thumb over the back of it. Her skin is soft and textured with small scars against his own, which is rougher, but scarred as well. She calls him out on his bluff every time, she knows him better than he knows himself at this point, but he smiles at her like always, and like always says, "I'm fine, Jules, really, I'm okay!"

She snatches her hand back with a frown and places it on her hip. "Fine my left tit Magnus Burnsides! Believe it or not, it's actually considered a big _fucking_ deal to be run through with an arrow when you're travelling through the woods, regardless of whether or not a cleric is with you!" She sighs then, and, like always, begins fiddling with some small thing from his workbench, a children's toy cart, or a napkin ring, or whatever he'd recently been commissioned to make. In today's case she picked up a jewellery box with a lid mosaicked with lighter and darker triangles of wood. "I just..." she pipes up again. She's avoiding his eyes. "I don't want you to get hurt. I don't...like it. Because..." Now she finally does meet his gaze. "Because I know that one day you'll be hurt for good. And one day you'll be hurt so bad that I won't have you anymore. Does that make sense to you Magnus?" She puts down the jewellery box, hard, but careful not to break it. She stresses the word 'sense' as if she were a teacher and Magnus was learning how to use a new vocabulary word. Does that make _sense_ to you Magnus? He cringes. He hates making her upset. 

"Of course, Jules!" he stammers. "I'm always careful to not get too hurt! I'd never want—I'd never _dare_ to leave you behind like that."

"How do you know that you're careful _enough_?" she challenges. "Most people know enough to avoid small attacks completely, and when large attacks happen, _that's_ when they're caught off-guard and they get killed. If you don't even avoid the small attacks, I'm not entirely convinced that, 'damage sponge' or not," she makes air quotes, "a large attack won't be disastrous for you, do you understand?" She's nearly shouting now, but Magnus can make out a tremor in her voice. 

He stands and puts his hands on her upper arms. "Deep breaths, Julia," he instructs. She obliges, but she's clearly still upset. "So I'll try to become more aware, is that what you want?"

Julia shakes her head as if dodging a kiss from an over-affectionate auntie. "No, I don't want you to become more _aware,_ Magnus! I want you to stop _looking_ for battles! I want...I want our lives to be less _violent_! I want this whole Kalan thing to be over, I want to live with you with my dad nearby, I want us to be _happy,_ okay?"

She sits down hard on the extra stool at the bench. Magnus sits back down on his own stool, but keeps his hands on her shoulders. She's refusing to look at him again. After remaining this way for a minute or so, Magnus finally removes a hand, starting to anxiously pick at the bandage on his arm. He sighs deeply and says, "hey Jules?"

She looks up at him, still unhappy, he can tell, but willing to hear what he had to say. 

"I'm sorry," he says then, and her expression softens. She sniffles and Magnus can tell she's trying not to cry. He feels his eyes sting with the beginnings of tears. He's always been a sympathetic cryer. "I guess... I guess that I sometimes forget that I have people now, and that I have to live for their sakes," he continues. "Or I guess I don't necessarily _forget_ about you guys—I'd _never_ do that, I just... forget to consider how my actions and wellbeing affect you."

Julia gives him a soft smile and punches him in the uninjured shoulder. It's a playful punch, but it still hurts a little bit. He knows the pain's on purpose.

"I forgive you," she says, and leans in to hug him, resting her forehead where his neck meets his shoulder.

He turns his head and kisses her temple, then stays there for a moment, breathing in her scent. She smells of wood, of fresh air, of rain, of her rose-scented shampoo, and faintly of toothpaste. 

"Julia?" he says after a while. 

"Hmm?"

"I love you."

It's the tone of an 'I love you' that only comes after an apology, the sort that carries an unspoken 'still' between 'I' and 'love,' the sort that begs for a response, a confirmation that everything is still alright. With Julia though, Magnus knew, the hug was confirmation enough. Whatever happened between them now, nothing could break them apart. They were both done for. In it for life.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus made a mistake. Julia has the worst day of her life.

"I'm not entirely convinced that a large attack won't be disastrous for you," she had said, those weeks and months ago, trying to stop him from pushing himself one step too far into disaster. There was no doubt, this attack was large, too large, large enough to crumble the world Magnus knew, both figuratively and literally. Julia had been right all along, and now her head, hair matted with dried, drying, and horrifyingly wet and present blood, lay in his lap as he sat among the rubble of everything he remembered knowing as home. "Take deep breaths, Jules, please," he said desperately, himself breathless with shock and with grief and with worry. "We'll get you out of there soon, okay?" 

 

Julia's eyelashes fluttered as she fought the urge to fall asleep. A bit of the rubble shifted as she tried to move her arm up to touch Magnus', but she winced hard and quickly gave up, trying to stay as still as possible while still taking enough deep, painful breaths to get enough oxygen into her body. 

 

"Just work through the pain, baby. You're doing great. We'll get help really soon. It'll be o-over s-soon." Magnus found himself choking back sobs. He ran his fingers through Julia's hair, trying to untangle it from the blood, but she winced again and he stopped. 

 

"Magnus, has anyone found my dad?" Julia asked quietly, still trying not to close her eyes. Magnus shook his head. This was all his fault, wasn't it? Kalan must've known about the carpentry show, he'd planned it for when Magnus was gone in order to launch an emotional attack, to distract him from the revolution. Why else would an authoritarian leader destroy the holding he had authority over? He never should've given Kalan the advantage in order to advance his own career. None of this would've even happened if Kalan didn't think he could weaken Magnus enough and apprehend him by doing...this. This atrocity. This heinous crime. Magnus would have Kalan's head on a pike and his hide as a rug if he knew where the so-called 'governor' was camped out. And if he'd still had a home to display the pike and the rug in. 

 

He could've stopped Kalan, he thought. If he hadn't gone to the carpentry show he could've discovered the plans, destroyed the firebombs, anything to have prevented the destruction of his town, his friends, his life, his _family_. 

 

Julia began to cough weakly, breaking Magnus out of his thoughts. "Hold on Jules," he told her. "Everyone's so busy, I'm done waiting." He quickly removed his shirt and bundled it into a makeshift pillow, gently lifting Julia's head and placing the shirt under it. He began digging in the rubble with his bare hands, ignoring the weight of the stones and the heat of the dust and remains of the wooden beams. He steeled himself for what he might find underneath the rubble as well. He didn't know what would become of him and his family and friends, but the thing he did know was that Julia would never be the same. Neither, he reasoned, would he, but for now he couldn't focus on himself. Everything he did, from now until they were back on their feet, was for Julia. She was watching him, blinking rapidly against the dust and fatigue, as he worked against the rubble. It was silent for a few minutes, but for the shifting of scorched earth, until softly, Julia spoke up. 

 

"Magnus," she said simply, after gently clearing her throat. Her voice sounded tired and close to tears, but her tone was one of importance. His eyes moved to meet hers. 

 

"Yes?" He said, matching her volume. 

 

"It's—I'm not —You're—You can stop digging, you know."

 

"What do you mean stop digging? I'm trying to get us out of here!"

 

"You don't have to get us out of here."

 

"There's nothing left for us here, Julia, Raven's Roost is gone!"

 

"And its residents are too."

 

Magnus had an idea where this conversation was going, and he didn't like that idea at all. His stomach sharply dropped. "Wh—H-how come?"

 

"Working through the pain won't work this time, babe. Y-you're—I think you're what's left of Raven's Roost now." 

 

"B-but you're still here! I'm digging you out right now!" The tears were streaming now, running pale trails down Magnus' dirt-darkened face. 

 

"You'd better dig faster, then," Julia said softly, not going to outright refuse him, of course, but not agreeing either. There was a heavy pause, silent but for Magnus' furious digging. "I love you, Magnus," Julia said. Her eyes were beginning to flutter shut. 

 

"I love you too, Jules," he replied softly, placing his hand on the top of her head, softly running his thumb over her hair. 

 

He heard her exhale, like the tail end of a sigh but without the inhaling part, and knew that he really was all that was left of Raven's Roost. He and a despot who was going to meet his maker once Magnus had found him. And Magnus would hunt to the ends of Faerun for him. No-one hurt the ones Magnus Burnsides loved.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus moves house. Julia's not quite herself.

They weren't doing well. Edward and Lydia knew exactly what they were doing, and even though there were two of them, and three of Magnus’ party, the liches had an enormous health advantage, not to mention they were on home turf. Glancing at his teammates, Magnus knew he had to step it up. Taako had taken so much damage he looked about to pass out, so it was out of the question that he’d be able to handle any spellcasting, and Merle didn’t have very many offensive magic, and had given up his ability to use an axe, so he was mostly in it for healing at this point, which wasn’t even allowed here. (Merle giving up his battleaxe proficiency was one of the worst decisions anyone had ever made, in Magnus’ opinion, but for now he was going to try and get all three of them out of here and deal with scolding Merle later–)

Suddenly, he felt a searing pain tear into his side. He yelled in anguish at the spell’s necrotic effects and ran towards Edward, Railsplitter drawn. Merle shouted something at him, but he was too focused to hear it, which was unfortunate because Lydia hit him with another spell. He fell to the floor, breathless with pain, but at least he managed to catch Railsplitter’s blade on Edward’s shoulder as he collapsed. He took a moment to stay on the ground and pull himself together while Taako and Merle made feeble attempts to weaken the liches.

_Just work through the pain, baby,_ Julia’s voice said, right by his ear. _You can get through this, you just have to get up first and stay strong._ He pressed himself up to sitting with the arm that hadn’t yet been hit, then took a deep breath and tucked his legs under him to stand up with the aid of Railsplitter’s handle. Axes were an underrated weapon in Magnus’ opinion. They were useful for so much more than just fighting and cutting down trees. With Julia beside him, Magnus was able to focus and get a blow in on Lydia when she and Edward when they rushed towards him, even if Edward clipped him in the shoulder with another spell. He spun and hit Edward with the axe right after, causing the lich to collapse to the floor unconscious. Magnus turned to Taako. “Want to do the honors?” he offered.

“Do I ever,” Taako replied. “Give me the axe.” Magnus obliged, averting his eyes as Taako finished Edward off.

After that, it was pretty much chaos. Lydia was screaming, devastated over the death of her brother, spells and the Chance Lance were flying through the air, the UmbraStaff went a bit bonkers, and the liches took Magnus’ body and destroyed it.

Slowly floating towards the Astral Plane, Julia spoke up again beside him. _Working through the pain didn’t work this time, did it?_ She said. _I didn’t think it would. It doesn’t work more times than it does work, don’t you think Mag?_ Now that just made him mad. He wouldn’t lash out at Julia, he’d never do that, but there was someone he _could_ lash out at, and she’d just booted him out of his body. He kicked as if trying to swim back through the Ethereal Plane, away from the Astral Plane and into the Material one. It didn’t help much, but it at least slowed his progress of slowly floating towards a place he’d never be able to return from: death.

_It’s not that bad, to be dead. Really Magnus._ Julia said, still right next to his ear. He didn’t believe her. Magnus could see Taako floating towards him and kicked harder. Merle followed shortly behind, and arm in ankle in hand they returned to the catwalk in Wonderland. That wasn’t his wife. Something wasn’t right. He refused to believe she enjoyed being dead. More than that, she’d never taunt him. Not about this. But if it wasn’t Julia, who was speaking in his ear?

Whoever it was, Lydia and Edward most certainly had to do with it. There were no words to describe how done he was with Edward and Lydia and Wonderland and their Necromancy bullshit. When he got down there, he was gonna...Oh good. He’s back. Bad news? He’s a mannequin. The body he’d inhabited for all these years, with all its scars and markings. The arms with which he held his wife and pulled her close to his chest. The hands he’d used to build the gazebo where they’d gotten married and carved so many other countless things for their home. The musculature he’d trained so hard to achieve. He was lucky mannequins couldn’t cry. He completely bypassed sadness at the destruction of his body, and moved straight to unbridled rage, rushing towards Lydia with a wild yell. She was struck down quickly. He and Merle and Taako could go home! The Animus Bell was all that remained of the liches, laying on the ground near Magnus’ feet.

Magnus, however, didn’t notice. He’d fallen to his knees, wooden head in wooden hands. Was Julia’s odd behaviour the liches’ fault, or was he losing her memory? He’d already forgotten so much of his family, he couldn’t lose her too.

He missed her. He missed waking up beside her, early before the sun, staying in bed and running his fingers through her hair instead of facing the day just yet. He missed pancake breakfasts, missed how calm his home life was compared to the BoB, just him and Julia and Steven until customers arrived. He mourned what his and Julia’s life together could’ve been. After all these years, the only person he could blame was himself. If he’d just stayed in town rather than going to the competition, if he’d brought Julia and Steven with him… But what would’ve been avoided? He’d returned from the competition and town had just...been gone, and everyone in it buried under rubble. Weird. He could’ve sworn he’d known the full story at one point. Been able to put two and two together and piece together a reason everything he knew was gone. He was even more deeply upset. He didn’t want to forget anymore. Everything seemed so fleeting in his brain, almost in one ear and right back out the other.

He missed her so much.

“I love you Jules,” he had said, leaning over her fading body, stroking her hair in the hopes that she’d be at peace.

I love you Jules. It didn’t come close to encompassing what he felt for her, how much she’d meant to him, how big of a part she was in his life. Hearing her here, as if beside him but not quite right, was a twist of the knife in a wound that had never quite healed. He’d haphazardly stitched it with new friends, new relationships, sure. Never anything romantic, but if Julia had taught him anything, a support system was important. He had friends. They were almost family at this point, even. They’d fallen into a routine together. But stitches are bound to pull if you move too much. Poor stitches won’t hold much of anything together, and Magnus found himself falling apart at the seams all over again.

Suddenly he spotted an arm on his shoulder in the corner of his vision. Merle was offering him a wan smile, probably hoping to be reassuring.

“C’mon big guy. Let’s go home. We’ll fix this, okay?” Magnus nodded faintly, still not quite feeling present. He got to his feet. Merle pulled Taako over to the two of them, and Magnus soon found himself in a group hug. (It was reluctant on Taako’s part, but it was group hug just the same.)

“Yeah, okay,” Magnus said tiredly. “Let’s go home.”

The other two turned to go, but Magnus had another thought. “Thank you.” They turned back to face him. “Thanks for uh, pulling me back or whatever. Even if I’m not me anymore.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Yeah no problem, just bein’ a friend.”

Maybe Magnus had lost nearly all of his family, but this new would be okay, he thought. Maybe in time. And besides, he’d see Julia soon enough. They’d never be apart for long, he thought. She was already always beside him, giving him advice and reassurances every so often. Today was a fluke, it was fake, he assured himself. Maybe he’d rebuild Raven’s Roost, when all this was done. Ravens always come back to their homes. Committed for life.


End file.
